Five Japanese students and their professor are visiting Hope College for three weeks on a special study tour sponsored by the athletic training program in the Department of Kinesiology.

The students are enrolled at Technos College in Tokyo in that school's athletic training major.

Athletic training is a relatively new profession in the Japanese health care system, and the study tour is intended to help introduce the students to U.S. models of sports health care services, according to Dr. Richard Ray, chair of the kinesiology department.

In addition, the students will be part of an immersion experience in the English language, as well as receiving specialized instruction in human anatomy using Hope's cadaver laboratory.

The study tour is also of benefit to Hope students, several of whom are serving as translators and instructional aides in athletic training courses.